Thursday, September 28Vault mixup could have cost gymnast medalAssociated Press

SYDNEY, Australia -- Gymnastics' governing body has
reprimanded officials who didn't notice the vault was almost two
inches shorter than it should have been during the women's
all-around.

The shortened vault could have cost favored Svetlana Khorkina
the gold medal. Khorkina crashed on her first vault Thursday and
then, thinking her chances at gold were gone, dropped off the
uneven bars.

"It is very unfortunate that this situation occurred during the
Olympic Games and FIG regrets the duress that the situation placed
on some gymnasts," the International Gymnastics Federation said in
a statement Sunday.

The federation didn't release details of the officials'
punishment.

Workers adjusting the vault between the men's and women's
all-around -- the men use a higher vault -- set it 1.97 inches
shorter than regulation. Eighteen women vaulted before the error
was fixed, and the shortened height led to several spectacular
crashes.

The Women's Technical Committee and the Superior Jury were
responsible for supervising the competition equipment and have been
reprimanded for "lack of control," the federation said.

Steps also were taken to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"It was checked. Believe me, it was checked. I'm sure
triple-checked," Slava Corn, president of the FIG's media
commission, said after the women's vault final Sunday.

"And, quite frankly, I don't think we'll ever have an error
like this again."

But that doesn't do Khorkina much good now.

The 5-foot-5 Russian didn't get enough height on her first vault
and crashed to the mat on her knees. She landed her second vault
perfectly, but her score of 9.343 wasn't enough to win gold.

Distraught and distracted -- gymnasts hadn't been told they could
redo their vaults yet -- she fell off the uneven bars and dropped
out of medal contention.

"It's very difficult and it hurts a lot," Khorkina said Sunday
after winning gold in the uneven bars. "It's cruel to all of the
participants which had the horse vault that was not of standard
height."

It was also dangerous, she said.

"It's quite possible to get killed," she said. "If you're
used to a vault of a certain height, all of the sudden, those two
(inches) could decide the future of a sports person."